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TREACHED BY 






REV. J. H. LINEBAUGH, 






RECTOR OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF ST. .TAMES, 






BATON ROUGE. LA. 




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ON THE 20TH OCTOBER, A. D. 1850. 






NEW ORLEANS . 


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PRINTED AT THE OFFICE OP THE PICA1X>T 


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1S50. 



EDUCATION: 



A DISCOURSE 



PREACHED BY 



REV. J. H. LINEBAUGH 



RECTOR OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF ST. JAMES, 
BATON ROUGE, LA. 



ON THE 20TH OCTOBER, A. D. 1850. 



NEW ORLEANS: 

PRINTED AT THE OFFICE OF THE PICAYUNE, 



1850. 



.i-s- 



Eaton Rouge, Oct. 22d, 1850. 
Rev. and Dear Sie: — 

The undersigned, who were highly gratified auditors of the Discourse delivered by you on 
Kunday last, on the subject of " Education," beheving it is very desirable that greater pub- 
licity than it can obtain under the circumstances existing at the time of delivery, should be 
given to it, and that the all important interest of Education and good morals will be greatly pro- 
moted by the publication of the Discourse, respectfully request a copy for publication. 
With great respect, . 

Your friends and ob't servants, 

Thomas Gibes Morgak. 
Geo. C. McWhoeteb, 
John N, Careigan, 
Timothy Fay, 
R. G. Beale, 
Cos. R Feench, 
/ Geo. S. Lacey, 

Chaeles Gayaeee. 
Rev. J. H. Linebaugh, 

Rector of the Protestant Episcopal Church of St. James, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. 



Baton Rouge, Oct. 26, 1850 
Gentlemen : — I received your kind and flattering note of the 22d inst., by the hands of Judge 
Morgan, a few days ago, expressing your gratification at hearing my Discourse on Sunday last, 
and requesting a copy for pubUcation. The Discourse is one purely practical, prepared under 
the press of parochial engagements, in view of what I conceived to be the wants of the commu- 
nity atthe time, and not intended for publication. 

If you think that any good might be done by giving it greater pubhcity, you are more than 
welcome to a copy of it, and it is accordingly herewith transmitted. 

I am, gentlemen. 

Respectfully, your friend and servant, 

J. H. Linebaugh. 
To Hon. Thomas Gibbs Mobgan, 
Geo. C. McWhoeteb, 
Jno. N, Caeeigan, 
Timothy Fay, M. D., 
Cos. R. Feench, M. D., 
R. G. Beale, Esq., 
Geo. S. Lacey, Esq., and 
Hon. Chas. Gayaeee. 



DISCOURSE. 



God created man in IIis own image : in the image of God created He him — male and female- 
created He them. — Genesis, Chap. 1: v. 27. 



The subject of Education is one, we trust, not without interest to 
every class of the community. We have felt it to be our duty, as His 
minister, the sublime end of whose mission upon earth was to do 
good, not only in removing suffering, and healing affliction, and 
soothing sorrow, but also in elevating every portion of the human 
family in the scale of mental and moral position and influence, to 
bring the subject to the notice of that portion of the flock of Christ 
whose interests have been pastorally committed to us. Be assured 
we do it not without misgivings. It is a subject which has so often 
engaged the philosopher, the scholar, and the orator, that it could 
not be otherwise than that one so humble as ourself should approach 
it with diflidence. We trust, however, to be able to ofler some reflec- 
tions, not without profit, and possibly not without interest, to those 
who may hear us on the present occasion. And, while to some, the 
words of our text may appear somewhat elementary, and abstract, 
we think they will be found upon examination, to be not inappro- 
priate to the subject. 

The nature of man, his intellectual and moral constitution, his ele- 
vated position in the scale of creation, his relation to all the objects of 
his being, superior as well as inferior, constitute the source from 
whence is derived the obligation of Education, For without this 
constitution, this position and relation, he would sink to a level with 
the animals of inferior nature, and would have nothing to train or 
cultivate beyond those instincts which are connected with, and are 
alone necessary for, the negative position of mere self-preservation. 
Man's creation in the intellectual and moral image of God, marks 
accurately his character and position, with their privileges and res- 
ponsibilities. It marks the nature of the commission, with the high 
ftmctions and destinies of which he is charged ; it marks him as one 
to whom has been delegated the responsible power of controlling the 
destinies of earth, as also the glorious privilege of aspiring to an asso- 
ciation with angels, and to an imitation of the Great Eternal God of 
the Universe, in that high habitation in the Heavens, reserved for his 



6^ 

ultimate and eternal residence, when the bourne which bounds his 
residence on earth shall have been passed. 

We think it an error to view man simply as a finite being. That 
man has been thus viewed, we think a popular and prevailing falla- 
cy — a fallacy which has injured, if not corrupted the speculations of 
philosophy, which has controlled, if not perverted the efforts of phi- 
lanthropy, and given a false character to our systems of education. 
That man, materially, is finite, catmot be questioned. There is a limit 
to his physical powers. There is a limit to his sight, to his hearing, 
indeed, to his being, so far as it is connected with sensible objects; 
but to his intellect and soul there is no limit : these are the tokens of 
man's resemblance to God — these are the special evidences of that 
likeness to himself wherewith Grod has impressed him — these are the 
noble insignia and prerogatives of that sublime image of Himself, 
which God has stamped upon him ; and unless you will call God finite 
— unless you will set bounds to His eternal wisdom, goodness and 
power — unless you will say to His eternal attributes, in the pride of 
an impious superciliousness — thus far shall you come and no farther, 
presume not to say of these that they are finite. When the universe 
becomes finite, when immortality becomes finite, then say of man that 
he is simply a finite being. Who that has marked the sublime dis- 
coveries of Newton, or read the celestial pages of Milton, or observed 
and measured the influence of Plato, Aristotle and Bacon, upon the 
mind of all subsequent ages, will declare that the human mind is 
finite. Or will any one who looks forward through the telescope of 
faith, to the progress of the soul through the unwasting ages of eter- 
nity, as it labors with unceasing effort to compass that truth which 
eye hath not yet seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart conceived, and 
say of the soul that it is finite 1 If he does, then let him tear asunder 
the chain which binds him to the throne of the Eternal — let him oblit- 
erate the bright image which radiates from his face — let him extin- 
guish the glorious light of the soul's immortality — let him blot out 
Heaven, and mate himself with beasts bound by the prescribed limits 
of appetite which soars no higher than themselves, and when dead, 
left to moulder untombed upon the bosom of the earth which bore 
him. We discard the idea of man's being simply finite, as a popular 
fallacy, and claim for him capacities more exalted, and destinies 
more sublime than belong to the earth ; we claim for him a high and 
holy destiny, which claims affinity with the attributes of God, and 
compasses eternity itself in duration. 

Whence, we may inquire, the origin of this fallacy? It is because 
we are of the earth, earthy ; it is because of the sad perversion of 
man's nature ; it is because of the sad and blighting transformation of 
man's moral nature, by the transgression; it is because of the triumph 
of the carnal over the spiritual; because the light within us has be- 
come darkness ; because we look not beyond our earthly habitation. 



but are occupied altogether with the thoughts and feehngs and appe- 
tites of our earthly being, with wherewithal we may be fed, and 
wherewithal we may be clothed. We explore not the arcana of our 
spiritual being. We scan not the altitudes of our moral and intellec- 
tual nature. We enter not the inner chambers of our immortal res- 
ponsibilities. We ascend no summits, to catch views of the bright 
landscapes scattered along the pathway of an eternal being. Our 
temporal interests are the measure of our labors — our necessities the 
standard of our ambition. Education, when it has extended to these, 
has covered its prescribed territory, and all beyond is deemed by the 
practical of this world, delusion and folly. Our young men, when 
they have acquired some knowledge of languages dead and living — 
some knowledge of abbreviated histories, and mutilated sciences, are 
thrown into the world with the distinct idea that what they have ac- 
quired, and what they are to acquire, is to be used alone in this world, 
and for this world — is to be bent to the one great, selfish purpose of 
gratifying personal ambition, or pursuing personal interest. Our 
young women are educated with especial reference to the world : 
they con in haste the popular standards of science, designed for 
schools — they acquire the popular accomplishments — and then hasten 
into society, with the expectation and hope of becoming helles or 
wives. In an abstract way, they may be taught something in refer- 
ence to themselves, something in reference to their responsibilities, 
something in reference to their immortal interests and destinies ; but 
it is subordinately, it is nothing more than abstract, it has not the mer- 
its of the practical The lesson is not taught with earnestness, it is 
not engraved upon the tablets of the heart, in words of living light ; 
it is not stamped on the memory or conscience, in the indelible colors 
of truth. It is left like a tender and immature plant, to struggle with 
tares, which having the stronger support, and sympathy of congenial 
soil, and the advantage of earlier and more assiduous cultivation, will 
have no difficulty in choking and ultimately destroying it. 

It is neither our purpose nor desire to speak disparagingly of the 
institutions of learning, primary or advanced, in our country. Their 
defects are but the defects incident to man, and incident to society. 
Instructors, we look upon as noble instances, generally, of self-sacrifi- 
cing benevolence, who labor always as far as they can, for the best ; 
and we are convinced that if a majority of them could act indepen- 
dently of a perverted public opinion, they would pursue a different 
course. Water cannot rise above its level : an inferior force cannot 
control the operations of a superior. The supply must be suited in 
quality to the demand. Public opinion cannot easily be overcome. 
The spirit of the age cannot easily be resisted. Parents are the par- 
ties mainly to be censured. More desirous that their sons and daugh- 
ters should shine and make some figure in society, or succeed in ac- 
quiring fortune, they neglect to inculcate those principles upon which 



8 

depend their usefulness in time, and happiness both in time and eter- 
nity. They neglect to inculcate upon them the lesson, that they are 
made in the image of God, that they are in possession of powers infi- 
nite in duration, and that the best and only way of attaining happiness 
in time, and securing it in eternity, is by addressing themselves to 
their assiduous cultivation. 
We propose to consider the 

NATURE AND PROVINCE OF EDUCATION. 

Our text declares that God created man in his own image — ^in the 
image of God created He him — male and female, created He them. 
The creation of man and woman in the image of God, constitutes their 
great excellence and glory, and throws around their position all which 
may be deemed exalted and commanding. Having reference to this 
world, as well as that which is to come, it embraces all the complex 
relations incident to their being, from the period when they dawn in 
infancy upon the world, to their never-ending destinies and allotments 
in eternity. It was the bestowal of nothing less than immortality. It 
was the delegation of nothing less than an agency which embraced 
all the objects of their being, and for the discharge of which they are 
perpetually accountable. The obligation of what is popularly called 
education, originates in this, and is nothing less than qualifying man 
for all the duties involved in that creation : the training and fitting 
him for that position here and hereafter, for which he was intended. 
In all the peculiarities and privileges of their creation, man and wo- 
man share co-ordinately and equally, but with a difference as to 
sphere. The difference of position originates in the different charac- 
ter of the objects had in view in their creation. The general objects 
of woman's creation are the same with those of man ; her destinies 
are the same, her general responsibilities are the same. Like man, 
she is immortal, like man, she is accountable, like man, she must give 
an account of her stewardship. Her stewardship differs, however, 
in its details, and the difference of education originates in this differ- 
ence of details. Now, in reference to both man and woman, we 
would say, that whatever may promote their highest happiness, what- 
ever may qualify them for all the duties involved in their creation, 
whatever may train and fit them for their positions, is the object of 
education. Education is but the carrying out of the great destinies 
of each; the preparing each in mind and heart, for a discharge of all 
those duties which God has inseparably connected with their being ; 
and both are bound by most sacred obligations, and upon pain of for- 
feiting their high prerogatives, to meet the responsibilities thus de- 
volved on them. God would not have created man and woman in 
his own image, and after his own likeness, and then have permitted 
them to destroy them by slothfulness and inattention, or by vice and 
folly. To this case, the parable of the Talents will apply as aptly as 



to spiritual privileges ; ior man's spiritual and intellectual nature are 
necessary to each other, as parts of the same being; and contracted 
indeed will that spiritual character be, which is unenlightened by an 
educated intellect. The duty of education thus flowing from the text, 
assumes the positiveness of moral obligation, and he who neglects the 
education of his heart and intellect, denies to himself not only great 
privileges and enjoyment in time and eternity, but actually runs the 
risk of periling happiness itself. As it is our purpose to take a distinc- 
tion between male and female education, we shall consider each sep- 
arately. 

The position of man implies action. His destiny leads him into 
the world, as a sharer in its fortunes and conflicts, its triumphs and 
its trials. He must be an actor in every revolution of society, a par- 
ty in every struggle of principle, or interest, or ambition. His edu- 
cation, therefore, must partake correspondingly of the nature of his 
position and relations. He must go into the world prepared to meet 
its difficulties, to surmount its obstacles, and to influence its destinies 
for good. He must go with an intellect fully disciplined to the dis- 
covery of truth and the detection of error, fully stored by reading, 
observation and reflection, with all needful facts and principles for 
his own guidance in the way of truth, as for the direction and enlight- 
enment of his fellow men. He must carry with him a heart enlight- 
ened and fortified by the strength of Christian resolution, a will able to 
resist temptation and overcome evil. These are the points to which 
the education of our young men must be directed, if they would fully 
meet the responsibilities of their position, and successfully combat the 
errors of the present age of the world. There must be combined 
with the attainments of the Scholar, the graces of the Christian, and 
the accomplishments and manliness of the Gentleman. 

By the attainments of the Scholar, we do not mean merely the ele- 
mentary attainments acquired in our academies and colleges. They 
hardly constitute the beginning of learning. He who has received 
his diploma, stands ordinarily but upon the threshold ot science, the 
outer-veil of the Temple not having even been passed. The being a 
scholar implies not only the successful acquisition of university hon- 
ors, but in addition, long years thereafter of arduous toil and unflinch- 
ing application, long years of comparative seclusion from the world, 
spent in invoking the spirits and ''courting the converse of the Illus- 
trious Dead." The most successful candidate for university honors, 
has done nothing more than acquire the instruments necessary for the 
acquisition of learning. The being a scholar implies the knowledge 
of one's self, the operation of one's own intellect, the mysterious im- 
pulses and motives of one's own heart. It implies a knowledge of the 
history of the world, both past and present. It implies a critical 
knowledge of classical literature, in languages dead and living. It 
implies a knowledge of Ethics and Law, in their application to the 
2 



10 

relations of human society, political, civil and social. It implies a 
knowledge of mathematical and physical science, in all the length and 
breadth of their application to the laws, relations and motions of the 
world which we inhabit. 

The scholar, if he would adequately sustain his claim to his position, 
must have studied the speculations of Plato, and Aristotle, and Cice- 
ro, and Seneca, as those of Sir Thomas Moore, and Bacon, and Cud- 
worth, and Locke, and Butler, as of Descartes, and Leibnitz, and 
Spinoza, and Cousin, and Stewart. He must have studied the theolo- 
gy of Origen, and Chrysostom, and Aquinas, as of Hooker, and Tay- 
lor, and Barrow, and Tillotson. He must have studied the histories 
of Thucydides and Zenophon, of Livy and Tacitus, as the histories 
of Clarendon, and Burnet, and Monstrelet, and Froisart. He must 
know Homer, and Euripides, and Demosthenes, and Q,uintillian, 
alike with Dante, and Cervantes, and Corneille, with Milton, and 
Shakspeare, and Burke. He must understand the Institutes of Jus- 
tinian, as well as the Institutes of Coke, and the Commentaries of 
Blackstone, the treatises of Grotius and Vattel, as of Rutherforth and 
Wheaton, the Political Economy of Smith, as the later works of Say, 
Malthus and McCulloch. He must be as familiar with the prob- 
lems of Euclid, as the discoveries of Newton, and Herschel, and La 
Place. In fine, if the young man would carry into the world the re- 
putation and influence of the scholar, and accomplish successfully the 
objects of his being, and the special duties devolved upon him by the 
times, he must leave no well of knowledge untasted, no field of sci- 
ence unexplored, no garden of literature uncultivated. If he stops 
anything short of this, he has not met the measure of his responsibil- 
ities, he has not done justice to the noble source from whence he 
sprung, the noble image with which he has been impressed, and is not 
qualified to go forth into that world for which he was made, to mould 
its history and to shape its destiny. 

If the education of the young gentleman would be complete, to the 
attainments of the scholar must be added the virtues and graces of 
the Christian. By Christian, we do not mean the man of mere forms 
and externals, who, failing to discern in the symbol, the truth repre- 
sented, is ever substituting the shadow of religion for its substance ; 
nor do we mean the Christian by mere noisy and empty profession, 
whose religion, having sprung from fashion or fanaticism, is like Jo- 
nah's gourd, the growth of a night — we mean no such Christian as 
either of these — we mean the follower of Christ, him who thinks it 
" enough to be as his Master, without aspiring to be above his Lord;" 
who looking ever unto Jesus, as the " Author and Finisher of his 
faith," is ever laboring to tread in the footsteps of his most holy exam- 
ple ; who, ever striving to be made like unto Christ, practices himselt 
habitually in those lofty and noble graces which shone so brightly in 
the life of his Master, and constitute the beauty and glory of the Chris- 



11 

tian profession. The Christian whom we mean, is one who throwing 
aside the cant, and self-righteousness, and hypocrisy of Pharisaical 
fanaticism, has his heart filled with all human charities; one who is 
kind, and tender, and forgiving, and forbearing, whose heart over- 
flows with " the milk of human kindness," whose bosom is the blessed 
abode of sympathy and benevolence, whose eye moistens at behold- 
ing sorrow and suffering, whose purse relaxes at beholding poverty 
and distress, whose hand is ever ready to restrain an erring brother 
from temptation, who is ready to forgive and restore the fallen, who, 
instead of upbraiding, is ever ready to weep over the outcast, who is 
willing to take, in humble imitation of the spirit of his Master, even 
the lowest seat in the synagogue, to wash the feet of the humblest dis- 
ciple, and to give a cup of cold water to any of God's creatures, how- 
ever depraved, in the name of his Divine Lord and Master. 

This is the character, the acquisition of which should constitute a 
part of education, and we may add, we think, an indispensable part. 
Far be it from us to recommend the incorporation, in the education of 
any young gentleman, of that character, unfortunately in our country 
so common, and frequently so popular, the irritable, jealous, intole- 
rant, fault-finding sectary, misnamed Christian, who, either ignorant 
or blinded by his passions, can never see either his own faults or fol- 
lies of character, or extravagancies of opinion, who can see no virtue, 
or merit, or excellence, in any person but himself, or any system but 
his own; who is ever extending the circle of the "false report, by 
malice whispered round;" who is ever violating the obligation of 
personal or domestic confidence, express or implied, to disparage the 
character, or wound the feelings, or destroy the reputation of some 
confiding or unsuspecting friend ; who, indeed, is never so happy as 
when the floodgates of detraction are uplifted, and the characters of 
the virtuous and good are attempted to be soiled with the mud, and 
filth, and poison of wretched and infamous calumny. This is not the 
Christian whose qualities should constitute a part of education. No ! 
He is a Christian only in name, who to the guilt of sin adds the guilt 
of hypocrisy. The character of the Christian which we would recom- 
mend, is His character who is the model of all Christians, the G-reat 
Redeemer himself, the sublime embodiment of all virtue, as the ag- 
gregate of all excellence, which men may aspire to imitate, but never 
can hope to equal. In the times in which we live, the obligation to 
be a Christian, to acquire Christian habits and Christian education, is 
not felt as it should be. We regret it the more, as we think no edu- 
cation can be complete without it. That education which supercedes 
or neglects it is partial, is not built upon the entire nature of man, and 
proceeds upon the supposition that his destiny is temporal, without 
being eternal. If the moral image of God ^ould be fully reflected, f^- 
we must be Christians, for Christianity is our only source of happiness 
here, our only hope of happiness in eternity. Without this, we shall 



12 

never attain the high objects of that immortality which has been pro- 
mised lis in Heaven. Beheve not the popular idea that Christianity 
is no part of the education of a gentleman. It is a part, and a very 
necessary part, for time alone, w^ithout reference to eternity. It im- 
parts a dignity and beauty to the character w^hich nothing of earth 
can give; it invests it -i&dhmi with a moral grandeur, before which all 
the mere accomplishments of earth sink into insignificance. Oh ! 
what a halo of glory gathers around the characters of such men as 
Hale, and Boyle, and Jay, and Gaston, and Wilberforce, and Key, 
who, to talents, and position, and birth, and influence, have added to 
their characters the still brighter gems of Christian humility, and char- 
ity, and devotion, and purity; who from chaining the attention of 
courts or senates, could retire to the devotions of the closet with the 
meekness and simplicity of children; who, in view of the Cross, for- 
got their greatness, casting their honors to the earth in poverty of 
spirit, before the moral magnificence of His example, " who was the 
Servant of Servants." What a noble tribute to Christian purity is 
that paid by the mightiest intellect, as the loftiest patriotism of our 
country, to the character of John Jay, ''that when the spotless robe 
of the judicial ermine fell upon John ,Jay, it covered nothing not as 
spotless as itself" Never shall we forget the impression made upon 
our mind, when a child at school, by the anecdote related of Sir 
Robert Boyle, that it was his habit never to take the name of the 
Supreme Being upon his lips, without pausing a moment, to see that 
he did it with no irreverence. Nor shall we ever forget our feeling 
when we heard for the first time, the anecdote so much in keeping 
with the humility and simplicity of true greatness, related of the late 
Chief J. Marshall, and no doubt true, "that from his childhood to the 
day of his relating it, he had never retired to his bed without saying 
the little prayer so familiar to children, beginning with the words, 
* Now I lay me down to sleep.' " What more sublime spectacle could 
earth afford than this childlike simplicity, in one who held in his 
hands, not the rights, and interests, and destinies of individuals alone, 
but of nations; upon whose lips, when he spoke in that most exalted 
of earth's tribunals, hung all with an enchained interest and attention, 
as though they were listening to the words of an oracle, and around 
whom constellated the gathered learning and wisdom of the land, as 
stars within the orbit, and under the control of a central planet. 

A third essential point of education is the possession of the accom- 
plishments and manliness of a Gentleman. By gentleman, we do not 
mean the man of pretension, nor the pseudo aristocrat, who, in ac- 
cidental possession of wealth, or place, or position, is ever assuming 
unbecoming airs of importance to others, or making himself an object 
. of devout adoration ; nor do we mean the reckless, and profane, and 
vainglorious man of the world, nor the accomplished libertine, the 
most unscrupulous, as the least honorable of God's creatures, whoj, 



pursuing the instincts of a heartless and corrupt selfishness,, labors to 
supply by profession what he lacks in principle, to make up in man- 
ner, what he lacks in feeling. "We mean no such character as these, 
but would warn you against following such examples, as you would 
be happy and respected here. Such men are not gentlemen, they 
approximate not even remotely to such a character : they contradict, 
indeed, every idea associated with the character of a true gentle- 
man. A gentleman is neither heartless, nor corrupt, nor unscrupu- 
lous, nor abandoned in his moral character. 

Manners alone make not the gentleman. They may be, and are 
one of the evidences of a gentleman, because of their connection 
with good principles and good feelings, as dissociated from sterling 
principles and benevolent feelings, they are nothing worth — indeed 
they are grossly abominable — because they are the instruments of a 
specious deception, deluding and imposing upon society, alluring the 
young, and unsuspecting, and innocent, to destruction. By gentle- 
man, me mean him who in character is honest and honorable, who, 
through the loftiness of principle, scorns to do what is unjust, or disho- 
nest, or dishonorable, who never deceives the unwary, nor imposes 
upon the unsuspecting, nor defrauds the ignorant, nor betrays the in- 
nocent, who has contiually, and abidingly, in the language of Mr. 
Burke, that sensibility of principle, that chastity of honor which feels 
a stain like a wound. We mean him, who to the loftiness of virtue, 
adds the gentleness and forbearance of a generous and magnanimous 
chivalry; who shields and protects the person and character of the 
humblest and most friendless female, because she wears the form, 
and has the weakness of woman; who to his enemies is forbearing, 
though he has the power to injure ; who to the poor is condescend- 
ing and kind, though they have no power to repay ; who to the rich, 
and great, and distinguished, is respectful without being obsequious, 
civil without being servile ; who to the humility, gentleness and charity 
of the Christian, adds that firmness, dignity and self-respect, necessary 
for the vindication of his own honor, when impeached, for the pre- 
servation of his own character, when assailed. Such is the character 
whose graces, we think, should be a necessary part of education, and 
thus we complete the brief outline proposed in the early part of our 
discourse. We think without this combination of the attainments of 
the scholar with the graces of the Christian, and the accomplishments 
of the gentleman, the education of any young man proposing to him- 
self a life of usefulness, a life commensurate with the destinies and re- 
sponsibilities devolved upon him in his creation, would be radically 
incomplete, and we hope our earnestness will be pardoned, in view 
of the solemnity and sacredness of the obligations which he owes to 
God, his country and himself 

We pass now briefly to some of the points entering into the educa- 
tion of a Woman. 



14 

We regret tliat the discourse has already attained such a length, 
that we are compelled to be necessarily brief upon this part of our 
subject. The remarks which we shall offer, are susceptible of an al- 
most infinite elaboration. While woman is the sharer of the high 
privileges and responsibilities of man, possessing substantially many 
of his moral and intellectual traits of character. Providence has given 
her a different physical organization, and has designed her for a dif- 
ferent sphere of life. Action is not her sphere. She was not design- 
ed to mingle in the rude conflicts of the world, sympathizing with its 
interests, or partaking in its struggles. She is not expected, ordina- 
rily, to be either statesman, or warrior, or philosopher. She has 
been all, but it was only by way of exception to a general rule, and 
we think in violation of positive arrangement. Woman, prominently 
is the child of the affections, thrown by a gracious Providence upon 
the bleak and barren wastes of the world, to make it purer, and bet- 
ter, and happier; to gladden by her smiles, and console by her tears, 
and cheer by her voice; to make the solitary places of this world, this 
cold and cheerless world, glad ; to make its deserts bloom and blos- 
som as the rose. Her empire is Home — her sceptre is Love. With 
this empire, and this sceptre, she can exert an influence more impor- 
tant upon the world, than all the senates which ever assembled in 
council, or all the armies ever arrayed on the battle-field. Upon the 
influence exerted by her in the family circle, depends the moral des- 
tinies of the world, the interests in time and eternity of millions un- 
born. There goes forth from her chamber a power which, like the 
desired lever of Archimedes, may move the world. The impress of 
her character and influence, is written for weal or for wo, in indeli- 
ble characters, upon every man and every woman mingling in the 
multitude of earth's population. 

Possessing such character and influence, the manner in which she 
should be educated, becomes a problem of some importance. We 
would say, she should be educated in strict accordance with her na- 
ture and influence. We should not attempt to force her by educa- 
tion from that position in the world, and that relation to mankind 
which Providence has assigned her. If we do, we will work a se- 
rious injury to her, a serious injury to man, a serious injury to the 
interests of society at large. A heartless, ambitious, politic, worldly- 
minded woman, one whose heart is unsoftened by the mild influence 
of our holy religion, whose spirit has become sullied by the grossness 
of earth, is a sad spectacle of character perverted, of misplaced am- 
bition, of injurious influence. She is in the position of one attempting 
to force herself from that channel assigned her by a wise and gra- 
cious Providence, for the wisest and best of purposes. She is in the 
position of one in open rebellion to a positive ordinance of God. — 
Whatever may make a lady, we would say, should enter into the 
composition of her education. While her intellect should be by no 



15 

means neglected, attention prominently should be given to the culti- 
vation of her tastes, her feelings and her manners. 

By cultivation of her tastes, we mean the cultivation of those pow- 
ers through which she will be enabled to see and mark the beautiful, 
whether in nature, art or literature. She should be taught to improve 
her faculty for appreciating every landscape which may spread out its 
beauties before her, to kindle with emotions of sublimity before eve- 
ry towering mountain, to behold with joy the gorgeousness of every 
golden sunset, to mark the solemn pomp of every storm, as it rolls its- 
ponderous bulk athwart the heavens. Not a dew-drop should glisten- 
in the morning sun, nor a little neglected flower breathe its fragrance 
on the desert air, without attracting her appreciating notice. Should 
any genius for the arts exist, opportunity should be aflbrded her or 
cultivating her taste for music, poesy and painting, by consulting the 
best masters, and studying the best models. There is an inspiration 
in these studies, in beautiful harmony with the character of a gentle, 
gifted, pure-minded woman ; there is something in a soft, inspiring 
strain of music or poetry, or in a beautiful painting, which lifts the 
soul of woman above the dull, cold shadows of earth, to the scenes 
and images of unfading beauty and brightness in Heaven. To this 
appreciation of the beauties of nature and art, should be added the 
power to appreciate the beauties of literature. 

Her knowledge should be commensurate with the valuable litera- 
ture of her own language, and of other languages, if a knowledge of 
them be attainable. In her reading, not an important fact should be 
unobserved, not a noble action unappreciated, not a beautiful 
thought, nor a tender nor elegant sentiment unremembered. So in- 
timately are the tastes and intellect of woman related, that the latter 
must look to the former for cultivation and improvement. We think 
it susceptible of demonstration, that the intellect of woman if not fed 
through the tastes, is ordinarily left unfed, or left to draw cultivation 
from coarse and unsympathizing objects. 

The position of woman being prominently that of affection, she 
must remember that her feelings must not be uncultivated, and that 
it is to the feelings of woman that men look for those sympathies 
which are to make them kind and sympathizing partners in the toil- 
some and thorny journey of life. Men care not what may be the 
beauty of woman, what her accompUshments, if they are associated 
with un-Christian dispositions, with bitterness of feeUng, with a want 
of kindliness and goodness of heart, with jealous, and unforgiving,, 
and unamiable tempers. By cultivating edediacSy the affections, and 
laboring to bring them under the influence of religion, they will 
thereby fit themselves for all the duties and responsibilities devolved 
upon them by God. 

In fine, their manners should be those of softness and gentleness. 
Through amiable manners, they will woo and win successfully the 



Ituu^ cAA^A^ 



■^ 



16 

tavor and consideration of the world. No garb is so attractive as the 
garb of good manners. They will win their way to position, when 
wealth, and talents, and merit may fail. In their intercourse with 
the world, they will find them a resource, when combined with cul- 
tivated tastes and feelings, which will overcome all difficulties, and 
make them respected, honored and beloved. 

In conclusion, permit that we may exhort the young gentlemen 
and ladies of the congregation before us, to labor to meet the high 
responsibilities which God has devolved on them. He would not 
have made them in the likeness of His blessed image — in the like- 
ness of His own Eternal Self— without requiring of them a high and 
holy effort after wisdom, truth and goodness. Soon they will be men 
and women, soon the mantle of duty and responsibility which now 
rests on us, will rest on them. Soon they will go forth to meet in 
the active conflict of life, that destiny which is to make or mar them 
in time and eternity, and to leave its impress upon their age and 
country. That destiny is now within them. The theatre for its ex- 
ercise will only be enlarged. The world is but the school in em- 
bryo. If in the school the pupil has been ambitious, he will be am- 
bitious in the world. If there he has been industrious, he will be so 
in the world. If in the school he has been gentle, and good, and 
honest, and honorable, and high-toned, and gentlemanly, he will be 
so in the world. 

"Coming events," in the beautiful language of the ;^oet, "cast 
their shadows before,tiasm." The pupil's future dignity or humble- 
ness, future distinction or obscurity; future usefulness or inefficien- ij 
cy, are casting their shadows upon the rooms of the academy, as J^ 
surely as the gnomon casts its shadow upon the dial, or the needle 
points to the pole. Nor is the destiny which is being moulded in 
youth confined to time ; it shall pass through time, and leave its im- 
press upon eternity. The solemn register of their good and evil 
deeds, and thoughts, and feelings, is now begun; it will be finished 
at each one's death, and thence deposited in the archives of God's 
Remembrance, to be exposed at Judgment. The close of life scarce 
ever differs from its beginning. As the boy is, generally, so the man 
— as time is, so eternity. Reaping succeeds to sowing — punishment 
to evil — eternity to time. The grave is but a portal, through which 
the moral man passes from time into eternity. As eternity is time 
protracted, time is but youth developed. May we all so act here, as 
to be happy in time and eternity. 



